Overall Satisfaction with Cisco Jabber
My organization uses Jabber across the enterprise and in multiple offices. The tool offers different advantages to different people. For example, administrative assistants and associates use the Presence Management feature to determine if certain people are in the office. Associates use the Instant Messaging/Chat tool to collaborate with colleagues who are online. Associates and partners use the Cisco phone features to stay connected when they are out of the office, providing seamless access to clients. I use all the tools. I especially appreciate the phone connectivity because I can make a call to one of our international offices without having to dial international calling codes, etc. I simply use our internal IP phone exchanges, and I can call another office very easily especially when I am at home.
- Presence management is pretty accurate. Jabber taps into Microsoft Outlook to determine an individual's status, and it also looks that the computer state. Our users lock their computers when away from their desk, and Jabber changes their status immediately.
- The IP Phone capabilities have made us more mobile. Wherever we are connected using our VPN, the user has his or her phone.
- The Presence Management feature has eliminated a lot of unnecessary communication. Since a user's presence shows up in Outlook, I can call or chat with that individual instead of carrying on a conversation via email or voicemail. Communication has become more timely.
- We have had issues with sticky presence. We restart our computers daily, and while the Jabber application shuts down, a user sometimes will still show as available even when his/her computer is no longer logged in.
- We went with a different tool for video conferencing. The Jabber tool took up too much bandwidth, so we had to go with another vendor.
- We have not quantified Jabber's impact on the business. We only have empirical evidence and word-of-mouth, but is has been warmly received.
I have used other presence management and chat tools in the past. My biggest disappointment with them was having to change my status manually. Jabber integrates with so many other applications that I do not have to manage my status on my own.